ERCENTENARY 

OF THE LANDING OF 
/>4^ POPHAM COLONY 
AT THE MOUTH of the 
KENNEBEC, AUGUST 29, 1907 




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TERCENTENARY 



OF THE 



LANDING OF THE POPHAM COLONY 

AT THE MOUTH OF THE 

KENNEBEC KIVER 



AUGUST 29, 1907 



^ 



PORTLAND 
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

' 1907 



Press of 

Lefavoe-Tower Company 

Portland, Maine 



In £scli£mgrd. 

2itF '08 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Address, Hon. James P. Baxter., .... Page 4 

Address, Prof. Henry L. Chapman., D.D.., . . "12 

Poem, Harry Lyman Koopman., . . . . " 29 

Address, Rev. Henry 8. Burrage., D.D.., . . "31 

Address, Mr. Fritz H. Jordan., "34 

ExpLORATioiT Schemes with Reference to the 
Coast of Maine in 1606, .... 

i?ey. Henry S. Burrage., D.D.., " 37 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



' The Popham Memorial, Frontispiece 

OPPOSITE PAGE 

V Prof. Henry L. Chapman, D.D., 12 

Fort Popham and the Site of the Popham Memorial, . . 31 
. Plan of Fort St. George, 33 



THE POrHAM TERCENTENARY 

The two hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of the 
landing of the Popham Colony at the mouth of 
the Kennebec River was celebrated by the Maine 
Historical Society August 29, 1862, and a memorial 
volume, containing the addresses delivered on the 
occasion, and other contributions of interest, was 
published by the Society in the following year. At 
the time of the celebration in 1862, and on the sup- 
posed site of the fort erected by the Popham colonists, 
the United States government had commenced the 
construction of a fort, which, in accordance with a 
request of the Historical Society, had received the 
designation Fort Popham. Also permission had been 
asked and received by the Historical Society to place 
in the wall of the fort a memorial stone, with a suita- 
ble inscription, commemorating the founding of the 
colony. Such a stone was prepared, and in the 
account of the celebration held in 1862, mention is 
made of the services connected with the placing of 
this memorial. Evidently, however, this placing was 
in form only. Probably the work of constructing the 
walls of the fort had not been sufficiently advanced 
for the setting of the stone in its assigned position. 
In the course of the Civil War much was learned 
wiih reference to the construction of coast fortifi- 
cations, and the inadequacy of Fort Popham as 
a defence to the entrance to the Kennebec was 



discovered before the structure was completed. The 
fort accordingly was left unfinished, and the block of 
granite, prepared by the Maine Historical Society for 
a prominent place in the walls of Fort Popham, was 
given a place in the yard of the fort, where it 
remained unboxed until August, 1 907. 

In the intervening years it was ascertained that the 
fort of the Popham colonists did not occupy the site 
of Fort Popham ; and in June, 1906, on the approach 
of the tercentenary of the landing of the Popham Col- 
ony, a letter was addressed to the Secretary of War, on 
behalf of the Historical Society, requesting permission 
for the transfer of this memorial stone to the now 
known site of Fort St. George, as Popham's fort was 
called. This permission was granted, and subse- 
quently the War Department donated to the Histori- 
cal Society a sufficient amount of the unused stone in 
the yard of Fort Popham for the construction of a 
base, upon which to place in a new form the memorial 
prepared by the Society in 1862. 

The inscription on the stone prepared for Fort 
Popham was as follows : 

THE FIRST COLONY 

UN THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 

WAS FOUNDED HERE 

AUGUST 19, O. S. 1607 

UNDER 

GEORGE POPHAM 

The first colony on the shores of New England was 
that established by de Monts in 1604. In preparing 
the original memorial stone for its new location, the 
above inscription was removed, and the same inscrip- 



tion, with the addition of a single word and a change 
from Old Style to New, was cut as follows : 

THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY 

ON THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 

WAS FOUNDED HERE 

AUGUST 29, N. S. 1607 

UNDER 

GEORGE POPHAM 

The design for the new memorial was furnished by 
the Hallo well Granite Company, of Hallo well, Me., 
and the contract for the construction of the memorial 
was given to the same company. The cost of the 
memorial was defrayed by the State of Maine, the 
Maine Historical Society, the Colonial Dames of Maine 
and the Maine Society of Colonial Wars. 

A part of the site selected by the Popham colonists 
in locating their fort is now owned by the United 
States government, and permission was obtained from 
the Secretary of War to place the memorial on gov- 
ernment land. But a more sightly location was 
deemed desirable, and such a location, also within 
the limits of Fort St. George, was found on the rocky 
spur of Sabino Head, adjoining the government res- 
ervation. From the owners of this more sightly loca- 
tion, Messrs. Lyman and George A. Oliver, permission 
was obtained to place the memorial there. A more 
fitting spot for such a memorial could not be desired. 
From it the mouth of the Kennebec is in full view, 
and for some distance up into the main the eye can 
follow the course of the river descending to the sea. 

The 29th of August, 1907, was one of the fairest, 
brightest days of summer. By the early morning 

3 



trains, from various parts of the State, members of 
the Maine Historical Society, of the Colonial Dames 
in the State of Maine and of the Maine Society of 
Colonial Wars, made their way to Bath. Others 
joined the company there, and a little after nine 
o'clock the sail down the river to Popham Beach 
began. As the steamer made its way thither many a 
scene of historic interest was passed on either hand, 
recalling events connected with the experiences of 
the early settlers. The wharf at Popham Beach was 
reached at half-past ten o'clock. 

At once the company, with others who had already 
reached the place, proceeded to the meeting-house 
not far away, on the road from Fort Popham to the 
site of Fort St. George. Here the literary exercises 
of the day were held. The audience filled the house. 
The Hon. James P. Baxter, President of the Maine 
Historical Society, presided and delivered the opening 
address. 

We have assembled on these pleasant shores to celebrate an 
event of interest to us, not because of its importance to mankind, 
nor of its material or moral influence upon the welfare of those 
within the narrower bounds of our own State, nor of the virtue 
or heroism of the actors in it, for even the leading spirit in the 
enterprise, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, places them in a light none 
too favorable, but because it was the pioneer effort made in good 
faith by its projectors to colonize our New England shores, an 
effort which might have been successful had men of different 
character been employed to sustain it. So much of a derogatory 
nature has been said of these men that it seems proper that, keep- 
ing in view the fact that only success earns the diploma of merit, 
we should try to get as correct a view of them as possible. 

I have said that Sir Ferdinando Gorges was the leading spirit 
in the Sagadahoc colonial enterprise. He it was whose enthusi- 



asm never flagged, and which inspired men absorbed in other 
pursuits to adventure their substance and their influence to sup- 
port and advance his projects. His zeal, energy and self sacrifice 
in behalf of colonial undertakings have never been questioned, and 
it can be safely aflirmed that he was a man of lofty aims and 
broad foresight ; a man, who, while having an eye to his own 
interests, could subordinate them to the public welfare. 

Of Chief Justice Popham, who lent his great influence and 
advanced liberally of his means to aid this colonial venture, 
thereby aoxjuiring the title of its chief sustainer, much of a defam- 
atory character has been written. He has been charged with 
disreputable living previous to his elevation to the chief justice- 
ship, and then, with most corrupt practices. Even the possession 
of his family seat, Littlecote Manor, has been charged to judicial 
dishonor.^ 

It is well, however, in this instance to apply the rule which an 
astute publicist has prescribed for observance in the treatment of 
such cases, namely, that " When a thing is asserted as a fact, 
always ask who first reported it, and what means he had of 
knowing the truth."' 

The application of this nile shows that the writers of the wild 
stories of his acquisition of Littlecote by corrupt dealings with 
Darrell, its former owner, relied for their materials chiefly upon 
traditions. Papers in the Public Records Oftice have recently 
come to light which do not sustain these stories.^ 

That Popham was aggressive and unscrupulous there can be 
little doubt, as little doubt indeed as that Darrell, with whom 
Popham is accused of having made a corrupt bargain to clear him 
of a criminal charge, was not nearly as bad as he was painted by 
self-interested contemporaries. A much more reasonable explan- 
ation of his relations with Darrell is that he took advantage of 
the death of an unfortunate man, upon whose property he was 
enabled by his great power to seize and hold on the ground 
of having rendered for it an equivalent in services. Popham, 
there can be no doubt, was far from being a model of virtue, but 
no more corrupt than many of the men high in ottice in the reigns 

>Vide, "Lives of Eminent Men "— Aubrey — Vol. 11, p. i;93, "Romance of the 
Aristocracy "— Burke — Vol. I, p. 174. 

2 Vide, "Society in the Elizabethan Age "— Hall — pp. 133-146. 



of Elizabeth and James whose acts have escaped the searching 
light to which his have been subjected. 

Of George Popham, the nephew of the Chief Justice, and head 
of the Colony, we know only good. Even the French Jesuit, 
Biard, who visited the site of the colony after its abandonment, 
and who certainly was not friendly to the English, says that he 
was "A very honorable man, and conducted himself very kindly 
towards the natives,"^ and though Gorges paints him as "Ould 
and of an unwildy body, and timorously fearfull to offende or 
contest with others, that will or do oppose him," he also describes 
him as " honest " as well as " A discreete and careful man," ^ and 
it is not unreasonable to suppose, that, if he had survived the 
hardships of the terrible winter of 1607-8, that he might have 
held the colony together until it could be reinforced by new 
blood. 

Of Ralegh Gilbert, who succeeded Popham, success could not 
be expected. He was doubtless selected because of the fame of 
his father, Sir Humphrey, to whom Elizabeth had granted a pat- 
ent for territory of shadowy bounds twenty-nine years before.3 
Though he seems to have inherited the courage he does not seem 
to have inherited the virtues of his famous father. 

Biard, who has already been quoted, says, that after the death 
of Popham, who had treated the savages kindly, "The English 
changed their conduct ; they repelled the savages disgracefully ; 
they beat them, they abused them, they set their dogs on them, 
with httle restraint. Consequently, these poor maltreated peo- 
ple, exasperated in the present and presuming upon still worse 
treatment in the future, determined, as the saying is, ' To kill the 
cub before his teeth and claws should be stronger.' An oppor- 
tunity for this presented itself to them one day, when three 
shallops were gone away on a fishing trip. These conspirators 
followed them keenly and coming near with the best show of 
friendship ( for where there is most treachery there are the most 
caresses ) each one chose his man and killed him with his knife. 
Thus were dispatched eleven of the English." * 



^ Vide, " Premiere Misaion des Jesuites a Canada "— Carayon — p. 70 et seq. 

* Vide, " Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine," Vol. Ill, p. IBS. 
3 Vide, Hazard's " Historical Collections," Vol. I, pp. ^4-28. 

* Vide, " Premiere Mission des Jesuites a Canada " — Carayon — p. 70 et seq. 



Gorges also describes Gilbert as " Desirous of supremacy and 
rule, a loose life, prompt to sensuality, little zeal and experiense, 
other wayes valiant enough, but he houldes that the Kinge could 
not give away that by Pattent to others wch his Father had an 
Act of Parliament for, and that hee will not be put out of it in 
haste, with many such like idle speeches." From this it will be 
seen that Gilbert supposed the colony to have been settled 
within the bounds of his father's former patent. With such a 
man in chai'ge of the depleted colony, and jealous of its promot- 
ers at home, one cannot be surprised that upon the opportunity 
afforded by the death of his brother, whose heir he was, he 
should take advantage of the situation, and, when a ship with 
supplies arrived, should gather his di8heai*tened men and hurry 
home Avith them. 

From the remarks of Gorges already quoted, and the statement 
that Gilbert had written friends in England soliciting them to 
support his claims, it seems probable that he was not averse to 
the failure of the colony, the creature of men who had, he 
believed, usurped his rights, and it seems probable that he was 
indulging in a dream of a renewed patent and a return to Saga- 
dahoc or vicinity with a new colony over which he would be 
supreme. 

There were besides the men already discussed, several others, 
able and of good repute, as Seymour, the minister, a man no 
doubt of lofty character ; Turner, the physician, of whom Gorges 
speaks in high terms ; James and Robert Davis, and others. At 
the same time we may well believe that there was a considerable 
contingent, as in other colonial undertakings, of unfit men, even 
representatives of the criminal classes. Chief Jiistice Popham 
himself gave the Spanish minister to understand that such was 
the case, though this is not proof, as he may have been only 
talking diplomatically.^ Many early writers cast odiiim upon 
him for sending men, whom Gorges himself declares were " Not 
such as they oiight." But if such men formed a portion of the 
colony it was only in accord with the spirit of the age ; even the 
Dean of St. Pauls, several years later, in a sei-mon to the Virginia 
Company, said, " The Plantation shall redeeme many a wretch 

> Vide, " The Geneeis of the United States "— Brown — Vol. I, p. 46. 

7 



from the lawes of death, from the hands of the executioner." 
Gorges, who knew perhaps more than anybody else the character 
of the rank and file of the colony may be quoted. He says that 
to be successful " There must go other manner of spirits," and 
charges failure to " Theyr idle proceedings." 

When we consider the condition of maritime art in the six- 
teenth century, after the discovery of the continent by Cabot, 
which was hailed as a great event " More divine than human," 
the ease with which the ocean passage can be made ; and the 
character of the English people so enterprising and aggressive as 
they have shown themselves to be, it seems strange indeed that 
this great country, so rich in natural resources, should have 
remained for more than a century without a single successful 
step being made by the English toward its colonization. 

Colonies were nothing new. They had been successfully 
founded by Greeks and Romans many centuries before, and had 
proved of great benefit to the parent state, all of which was well 
known to English scholars, and the advantages of colonizing the 
new world were amply discussed long before successful efforts 
were made to secvire them. We know that the Spanish Gara- 
gantua fumed and threatened all who ventured upon voyages to 
the New World, and cruelly treated, even butchered some who 
were caught there ; but this does not appear to have been suffi- 
cient to have deterred Englishmen from pursuits to which they 
were inclined. In spite of Spain's great sea power they never 
shrunk from encountering it, and usually came off victorious, and 
the thought grows upon us that the principal hindrance to colo- 
nial success is to be found in the character of the material which 
was then thought sufficient for colonial building. Society in 
England during the sixteenth century and much later was in a 
graceless way. Men in power, courtiers and parasites who 
depended upon them, monopolized the sources of production and 
paralyzed industry, thereby creating poverty such as we know 
little about, a poverty which measured by the oppressive and 
cruel laws then prevailing, made criminals of men, who, with 
reasonably fair opportunities, would have made decent citizens. 
The frequent wars, too, which threw upon society thousands of 
incapacitated and worthless men with no means of living added 
to the criminal class. How to deal with such persons was a 

8 



problem from which the wisest shrunk. Any way which could 
be suggested to get rid of this class of persons was satisfactory 
to those in power, and the colonial prospect was hailed as an 
effective way of disposing of them forever. 

There were men who objected to this, Bacon and Fuller among 
the number, who vehemently condemned the theory that crimi- 
nals were fit timber for colonies, but these protests had little 
effect, and the king continued to order " dissolute persons " to be 
sent to Virginia. 

The result was what might have been expected. The south- 
ern colony, which had planted itself at Jamestown, had the same 
experience as its sister colony on the Sagadahoc. After severe 
hardships, though it escaped the extreme rigors of a northern 
winter, it was reduced to a handful of disheartened men by sick- 
ness and the vengeful hand of the savages, and would probably 
have been exterminated but for the stout and devil-may-care 
spirit of Captain John Smith until the arrival of reinforcements 
fi-om England ; but even then, only a year and eight months after 
the northern colony deserted the Sagadahoc, the southern colony 
abandoned its settlement at Jamestown, and burying the cannon 
which were too burdensome for them to remove, it sailed for 
home, and we should have heard no more of it, had it not met, as 
it was leaving the coast. Sir Thomas West, with a new charter 
and new settlers. Sir Thomas, being a man of action, ordered 
them back, the cannon were dug up and replaced in the fort, and 
the new master put his hand to the helm of affairs with a firm 
grasp; but again the colony would have failed had not John 
Rolfe planted some tobacco seed, which, producing a profitable 
crop and serving as an object lesson to the discouraged colonists, 
saved the day ; in fact, to that perniciously profitable weed, 
tobacco, is the salvation of the southern colony to be ascribed ; 
thus we see what immense advantages the southern colony had 
over the northern, in that it was not subject to wintry weather, 
the severity of which Gorges says " Froze all our hopes," and 
possessed also a product ready at hand, upon which to rely for 
support ; advantages amply sufficient, if both colonies were com- 
posed of like material, to ensure success to the one possessing 
them. 

Forty-fiive years ago to-day the Maine Historical Society was 



here celebrating the event, the three hundredth anniversary of 
which we are now observing ; yet of the members of our Society 
whose eloquence aroused the enthusiasm of those who listened 
to them on that bright August day, not one is now living to join 
his voice to ours on this memorable occasion. 

While acknowledging the distinguished services which these 
honored men rendered to Maine history, it is but proper that I 
should notice some of the errors into which they fell, and which 
caused so much unpleasant controversy. They did not have 
access to records which we now possess and, therefore, built upon 
less secure foundations. With the materials which the veiled 
and frugal Goddess of History vouchsafed to them, they wrought 
an attractive fabric, which our State pride might well prompt 
us to wish was more stable than it proved to be. We now 
know beyond peradventure, that no part of the Sagadahoc Col- 
ony remained behind to lay the foundations of empire at Pema- 
quid ; that in 1623, " Pemaquid had " not " become the great 
center of trade to the native hordes of Maine from the Penob- 
scot to Accacisco " ; i that the statements that " The evidence is 
quite conclusive that in that dissolution," namely, of the Sagada- 
hoc Colony, " English life, English homes, and English civiliza- 
tion did not cease to be found within the Ancient Dominions of 
Maine," 2 that " Pemaquid took her root from the colonial planta- 
tion at Sagadahoc, and sent up fresh, vigorous, and fi'uitful 
shoots in the families of the Sheepscot farms, between the 
head -waters of the aboriginal Sipsa and Naamas Couta " ; that 
" Maine is the Mother of New England," 3 and many other like 
statements are but pleasant fancies. Nor was there any great 
Bashaba ruling an Indian Empire in Mawooshen ; * nor even a 
Norembega of more importance than a few squalid wigwams, 
however much we may regret to own it. The " Fair English 
town " too " of fifty houses, with its church and fort mounted 
and entrenched " has dwindled to fifteen buildings of all kinds, 
the number shown on the Simancas plan .5 

» Vide, Memorial Volume ol the Popham Celebration, 1862, Sewall'fl Address, pp. 
133-155. 

2 Ibid. 

3 Ibid. 

* Vide, " Ancient Dominions of Maine "— Sewall — pp. 34, 38. 
"Vide, Ibid, p. 32, Memorial Volume Popham Celebration, 1862, Sewall's Address, 
p. 139. 

10 



The track of the colonists is now perfectly clear and undis- 
puted. Pemaquid, from its important situation, was an objective 
point to ships approaching the middle Maine coast, and here a 
landing was made and a conference held with the chief of the 
Pemaquid tribe before establishing themselves at the mouth of 
the Kennebec, and later they also visited Pemaquid which was 
to became so noted as a place of historic interest to the people of 
the State. 

The truth, however, remains as we were formerly taught, that 
the Puritans and the Pilgrims founded the first permanent colo- 
nies in New England under the wise leadership of men hke 
Bradford and Winthrop and Roger Williams, whom the people 
of this country will ever honor ; colonies, which guided by the 
principals of the Mayflower compact, imparted to subsequent col- 
onies that fervent spirit of liberty and equality which kindled 
the Revolution, and fused them into a nation. But while we 
admit this, we do not detract from the interest that this historic 
place will always possess for the people of Maine, who, in time to 
come, will gather here in remembrance of this interesting histor- 
ical event. Here was the first English colony in New England 
founded through the efforts of Gorges, who has not inaptly been 
denominated the Father of American Colonization. Here the 
first New England ship was built, the first fort erected to main- 
tain the rights of Englishmen to the continent discovered by 
Cabot under an English commission, and here George Popham, 
the noble governor of that colony, laid down his life for the 
cause which he had espoused, a man of whom Gorges wrote these 
words : " However heartened by hopes, icillitig he was to die in 
acting something that might be serviceable to God and honorable 
to his country.'''' i 

An address, by Prof. Henry L. Chapman, of Bow- 
doin College, followed. 

The opening years of the twentieth century are full of invita- 
tions to us to scan anew the records of the past ; records that tell 
in quaint phrase, but with directness and simplicity of manner, 

> Vide, " A Description of New England " in " Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His 
Province of Maine," Vol. II, p. 16. 

11 



the story of individual and concerted effort, of perilous adven- 
ture, of heroic enterprise, in the attempt, often renewed, to plant 
English colonies upon the New England coast. The Maine His- 
torical Society, as might be expected, has felt the significance of 
these invitations that come across the wide interval of three cen- 
turies, and has responded to them by various commemorative 
exercises, intended, at once, to mark the successive and costly 
steps in the peopling of the Western Continent, and to honor 
the memory of the brave men who gave their fortunes and some- 
times their lives to the great and hazardous enterprise. Thus, in 
1903, the Society held a commemorative meeting in celebration 
of the three hundredth anniversary of the voyage of Captain 
Martin Pring to the coast of Maine and Massachusetts, a voyage 
that was set forth by " sundry of the chiefest Merchants of Bris- 
tol," through the persuasion of Richard Hakluyt, " for the farther 
Discoverie of the North part of Virginia." It is true that Captain 
Pring did not, himself, contemplate the establishment of a colony, 
but his expedition was, nevertheless, wholly in the interest of the 
project of American colonization, a project that was enlisting the 
generous co-operation and patronage of English sailors, and mer- 
chants, and statesmen. He skirted a part of the Maine coast, 
sailed among the numerous outlying islands — which he found 
" very pleasant to behold, adorned with goodly grasse and sundry 
sorts of Trees " — explored some of the inviting inlets, took note 
of the noble forests, made a passing acquaintance with divers 
kinds of wild beasts, had cautious but interesting interviews with 
the natives, caught some highly satisfactory codfish, and finally 
loaded his two ships with sassafras from the shore near what is 
now Plymouth, and sailed back to England with the charts which 
he had drawn, and with a very encouraging report of the beauty 
and fruitfulness of the land, and of the advantages it offered for 
profitable colonization. 

Again, in 1904, the three hundredth anniversary of the arrival 
on our coast of Sieur de Monts, with a French colony, was duly 
observed at the island of St. Croix, where the colony built a fort 
and some houses, and passed a single winter with much sickness, 
and suffering, and destitution. One of the historians of the 
voyage, M. Lescarbot, speaks of " how hard the ile of Saint Croix 
is to bee found out, to them that were never there " ; but the 

V2 




PROF. HENRY L. CHAPMAN, D. D. 



Historical Society found it out on that three hundredth summer 
after it was first occupied, and erected there a permanent memo- 
rial to de Monts and his adventurous but ill-starred company. 
Thirty-six of the little band perished miserably during the unex- 
ampled severity of the winter, and it is no wonder that the few 
survivors were unwilling to undergo a repetition of such hardship, 
and abandoned the island. It was a French colony, and but for 
the unusual rigor of the winter it might have persisted, and made 
the Saint Croix, rather than the coast of Newfoundland, the 
theater of French colonial enterprise. For de Monts had 
received fi'om the French king, Henry IV, a roj'al patent to the 
territory of North America from Cape Breton to the mouth of 
the Hudson River ; " and in the same distance, or part of it, as 
farre as may be done, to establish, extend, and make to be 
knowne our Name, Might, and Authoritie." But "the attempt 
and not the deed " confounded them. For when the extent of 
the French claims, and the effort to enforce them by colonization 
were known in England, the English colonizers were stirred to 
new activity, and a well-equipped ship was sent forth with the 
ostensible object of finding a north-west passage to India, but 
with the real purpose to watch the movements of the French, 
and to further the cherished project of planting English colonies 
upon the American coast. 

This ship was the Archangel, under the command of Captain 
George Waymouth ; and in 1905, we celebrated the three hun- 
dredth anniversary of Captain Waymouth's arrival in St. George's 
River ; and on the island where he set up a cross in token that 
the region w^as claimed for England, and for the Christian faith, 
we erected a granite cross in commemoration of his act, and 
honored his name with a memorial tablet in Thomaston. The 
errand of Captain Waymouth, like that of Captain Pring, was 
not to establish a colony, but to watch the movements of the 
French who were laying claim to a large part of the continent, 
to explore the coast, to ascertain its conveniences for harborage 
and defense, the promise of profitable cultivation which the land 
afforded, and the opportunities of trade with the natives. In 
respect to all these points the report was encom-aging, not to say 
exuberant. " Every day," says James Rosier, the historian of 
the voyage, " we found the land more and more to discover unto 

13 



us his pleasant fruitfulnesse, insomuch as many of our company 
wished themselves settled here " ; and " the further we went, the 
more pleasing it was to every man, alluring us still with expecta- 
tion of better." " Here," he exclaims, " by judgment of our Cap- 
taine, who knoweth most of the Coast of England, and most of 
other Countries — here are more good Harbours for Ships of all 
burthens, than all England can afoord : And farre more secure 
from all winds and weathers, than any in England, Scotland, Ire- 
land, France, Spaine, or any other part hitherto discovered, 
whereof we have received any relation." And of St, George's 
River he says, — " I would boldly affirme it to be the most rich, 
beautiful, large, and secure harboring River that the world 
affordeth ; for if man should wish, or Art invent, a River subject 
to all conveniences, and free from all dangers, here they may 
take a view in a Platforme framed by Nature, who in her perfec- 
tion farre exceedeth all Arts invention." In addition to this 
enthusiastic description of the new continent Captain Waymouth 
carried back to England five stalwart natives, whom he captured 
by methods that could be justified only by the Jesuitical doctrine 
that the end justifies the means. 

What wonder that the result of Waymouth's voyage was to 
exalt the hopes, and stimulate the activity of those who were 
interested in the project of American colonization ! The follow- 
ing year, indeed, saw two vessels dispatched to the American 
coast, by Chief Justice Popham and others, for further explora- 
tion. One of them, it is true, was captured by the Spaniards, 
and so failed of its purpose ; but the second vessel, Martin Pring, 
Master, — whose voyage three years before had proved so encour- 
aging, — succeeded in reaching the shores of Maine, and was able, 
on its return, to confirm the favorable report of Waymouth in 
1605. The tercentenary of these two voyages was duly observed 
by a paper read before the Historical Society on the second of 
May, 190G. 

These successive and significant steps In the great movement 
have been duly recognized and commemorated by us during the 
last four years. 

To-day we celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of ( what 
was, in a sense, the culmination of the series of events which I 
have mentioned, and of others that preceded them ) — the landing 

14 



of the first English colony on the coast of New England. It was 
a memorable event, and we do well to commemorate it not only 
by these transient exercises, but also by the permanent memorial, 
which has just been unveiled, to mark this historic spot. 

The Sagadahoc Colony, as it was called, together with its twin, 
and more successful, colony at Jamestown, had a backward look, 
since it was a further and more assured step in the design which 
had been floating, with growing clearness, before the vision of 
the English people for more than a century, ever since the 
Cabots had claimed for England the continent of America by 
right of discovery ; and, in accordance with this claim, letters- 
patent, and charters of privileges and possession had been granted 
by sovereign authority to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, and others. It had also a forward look, because it was 
the beginning of systematic attempts to colonize the New World 
under the patronage and authority of the English king, within 
defined limits of territory, and with carefully prescribed powers 
and privileges. It inaugurated, in a modest and hampered way 
a form of colonial government which came, more and more, to 
have the character of a political dependency, and which devel- 
oped, through inevitable changes and expansions, to virtual 
autonomy and at last to independence. All that was really 
embraced in the forward look of the little colony — standing, as 
it did, on the boundary line between the ban-en methods of the 
past and the pregnant methods of the future — could not, of 
course, be seen by the colonists themselves. Their eyes and 
their efforts were directed to the immediate gains of the enter- 
prize on which they were embarked, and their souls were tried 
by the present difticulties with Avhich they had to contend. The 
more remote view was in the nature of things hidden from them ; 
else they would have seen one colony succeeding another to these 
shores, with substantially the same chartered powers and safe- 
guards as their own, but modified to conform to what experience 
taught and special conditions required ; all bound to the mother 
country by patriotic sentiment and by administrative laws, but 
each developing in accordance with its peculiar purpose and per- 
sonnel ; until a general community of interests and their united 
strength, together led them, under the spur of oppressive acts of 
administration, to throw off the yoke of dependence, and the col- 

15 



onies became a republic. All this was in the forward look of the 
little Sagadahoc Colony, which, with timid foot and high hopes, 
stepped upon this shore three hundred years ago to-day, and, 
under the sanction of a devout religious service, proceeded to 
build a fort for defense, and houses for shelter, and a ship for 
fishing and for communication with the outer world. Then they 
awaited the winter which, as in the case of the colony of 
de Monts, was to benumb them with its cold, and buffet them 
with its storms, and finally with the triple thongs of privation 
and sickness and death to drive them from the land they had so 
hopefully possessed. 

I have said that Ihe colony had a look backward as well as 
forwai'd, and the backward look is interesting and instructive, 
because it reveals the motives out of which mainly grew the col- 
onies of the Virginia Company, and helps us to understand their 
genesis, and the material of which they were composed. These 
motives were, in part, native to the English character, in part the 
outgrowth of political and religious relations, particularly with 
Spain, and in part the product of new and disturbing social con- 
ditions. It will be sufliciently exact, therefore, to classify them 
as commercial, political, economic, and religious. The commer- 
cial motive is the one that is native to the English character. It 
is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the corner-stone upon 
which rest the power and prestige of the English nation is its 
jealous devotion to the interests of trade. Whatever policies of 
government may be in dispute among the people, and however 
widely men may differ as to the particular policy to be adopted, 
the crucial test to which all alike are anxious to bring the dis- 
puted question, is the probable effect upon the trade and com- 
merce of the country. It is this intelligent and unresting pursuit 
of commercial opportunity and advantage which has sent the 
ships of England into every quarter of the globe, and has made 
the little island, and its chief city, the center and clearing-house 
of the business operations of the world. It is significant that the 
phrase, "to discover new trades," was frequently employed in 
the sixteenth century to indicate the purpose of expeditions to 
remote regions, which we should now term voyages of discovery 
and adventure. To discover a new trade was to discover a new 
place and opportunity for trading. An unknown island or con- 

16 



tinent where the natives could be persuaded to buy or to barter, 
was a " trade," and the Enghsh merchants were eager to find it 
at whatever cost or hazard. Richard Eden, in his quaint and 
interesting book called " The Decades of the New World," pub- 
lished in 1555, reproached the English people because they had 
not attempted to occupy the north part of America as the Span- 
iards had occupied the south part ; and he exhorted them " to 
doo for our partes as the Spaniardes have doone for theyrs, and 
not ever lyke sheepe to haunte one trade, and to doo nothynge 
woorthy memorie amonge men, or thankes before God." 

Two years before Eden's book was published, in the closing 
year of the reign and the life of young Edward VI, there was 
formed in London, under the leadership of Sebastian Cabot, a joint 
stock trading company, under the vague but fascinating title of 
" The Mysterie and Companie of the Merchant Adventurers for 
the Discoverie of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places 
unknown." It established a commercial connection with Mos- 
cow in Riissia, and probably because its original name was too 
cumbersome for everyday use in the market-place, and, perhaps, 
in stock quotations, it came to be known as the Muscovy Com- 
pany, and under that title it is famous as the pioneer among the 
trading companies of the century. It was followed, twenty-five 
years later, by the Eastland Compan}^, composed of merchants 
trading with Scandinavia and lands eaat of the Baltic Sea. Then, 
in somewhat quick succession, were organized the Levant Com- 
pany, with its sphere of operations in the Mediterranean and in 
Turkey, the Barbary Company, the Guinea Company, and, in the 
closing year of the centmy, the most famous and powerful of 
them all, the East India Company, in whose books the works of 
Charles Lamb were contained, as the gentle humorist declared. 
By the end of the sixteenth century, therefore, these six trading 
companies divided between them most of the available territory 
of the Old World ; but as yet England had no trading company 
or colony on the western continent. 

The first company chartered in the seventeenth century was 
the Virginia Company, in 1606. It differed in some important 
respects from those that preceded it, and notably in its constitu- 
tion as a permanent colony, and in the form of government pro- 
vided for it. In these respects it inaugm*ated a new policy, with 

17 



unknown possibilities of expansion, and unforeseen political 
results. But it was, at the same time, in the direct line of 
descent from the numerous trading companies of the sixteenth 
century, and it enlisted the co-operation of many men who were 
stockholders in those companies. For example, Sir Thomas 
Smythe was the treasurer of the Virginia Company, and he was 
also a governor in both the Muscovy and East India Companies, 
and a member of the Levant Company. It is evident, therefore, 
that the commercial motive contributed, in no small measure, to 
the inception and constitution of the Virginia Company, and the 
colonies it planted at Sagadahoc and Jamestown. The restless 
and visionary Spaniards might dream of gold and silver mines, 
and precious stones, to be found on the unexplored shores whither 
they sent their carracks and galleons, but the more sober English, 
putting their faith in the less dazzling rewards of commerce, 
sought constantly for new avenues of trade. This, however, did 
not prevent them from listening with delight to the humorous 
extravagances of Captain Seagul, in the comedy of " Eastward 
Ho," who vivaciously assured his hearers that in America "all 
their dripping-pans are pure gold ; and all the chains with which 
they chain up their streets are massy gold ; all the prisoners they 
take are fettered in gold ; and for rubies and diamonds they go 
forth on holidays and gather 'em by the seashore to hang on 
their children's coats, and stick in their children's caps, as com- 
monly as our children wear saffron-gilt brooches and groats with 
holes in 'em." That was all very well in an amusing stage-play, 
but it did not seriously affect the hard-headed men who owned 
stock in the Muscovy, and East India, and Virginia Companies, 
and who looked for dividends rather than diamonds from their 
ventures abroad. 

Notwithstanding all this, it has been easy at times for writers 
to overstate the dominance of the commercial motive in the 
formation of the Virginia Company, and in the planting of its 
colonies at Sagadahoc and Jamestown. Political considerations, 
also, arising out of the antagonism and rivalry between England 
and Spain, had occupied the thoughts of English patriots, and 
had edged many of their appeals to Queen Elizabeth, and her 
successors, to strike at the power of Spain, and at its prestige 
upon the sea, by establishing English colonies upon the American 

18 



coast. Such an appeal, written probably by Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert, quoted by Alexander Brown in his " Genesis of the United 
States," was sent to Elizabeth in 1577, in which the writer begs 
for her permission to capture and destroy any Spanish ships that 
may be caught fishing off the Newfoundland coast; and, by way 
of emphasizing his plea, the writer adds this assurance : " If you 
will let us first do this we will next take the West Indies from 
Spain. You will have the gold and silver mines and the profit 
of the soil. Yovi will be monarch of the seas and out of danger 
from every one. I will do it if you will allow me ; only you 
must resolve and not delay or dally — the wings of man's life are 
plumed with the feathers of death." That was a stirring appeal, 
and it had strong conviction and ardent patriotism behind it; 
but it was addressed to a queen with whom it was not only a 
habit but a settled policy to dally, in any matter which involved 
the expenditure of money, or threatened the peace and security 
of her realm. And yet there was no other nation which England 
so much distrusted and so justly hated as Spain, Ever since the 
Reformation, and the adoption of its essential principles by 
Henry VIII, — excei:)t during the brief reign of Mar}', and the 
few years of her pathetic marriage with Philip, — Spain had 
watched England with jealous and cruel eyes, eager to humiliate 
and crush her. This fact was keenly realized by the great cap- 
tains of Elizabeth's time, like Drake, and Gilbert, and Raleigh, 
and they lost no opportunity to make reprisals upon the greatest 
and most arrogant maritime power then existing. They knew, 
moreover, as we know, that the wealth Avhich enabled Spain to 
maintain the fleets and forces with which she hoped to subdue 
the English people and to crush out the principles of civil and 
religious liberty for which they stood, was drawn from the Span- 
ish possessions in South America. It is computed that down to 
the time of this Sagadahoc Colony the gold and silver Avhich 
Spain had taken from America would equal the enormous sum of 
five thousand millions of dollars. It was this spoil from America 
that created, and sent on its threatening way to the English 
coast, that terrible Armada which was called the Invincible, until 
it was shattered and dispersed by the intrepid valor, and the skil- 
ful seamanship, of Drake, and Hawkins, and Frobisher, and 
Howard, and the men whom they commanded. Its coming had 

19 



been awaited with deep anxiety and dread by Elizabeth and her 
people, to whom its utter and spectacular defeat was as much a 
cause of rejoicing as it was of bitter humiliation to Spain. Out 
of its destruction came to England new courage and determina- 
tion to contest with Spain the supremacy of the sea, and the 
possession of the New World. " The beginnings of the history 
of English-speaking America," says John Fiske, "are to be 
sought in the history of the antagonism between Spain and Eng- 
land that grew out of the circumstances of the Protestant 
Reformation. It was as the storehouse of the enemy's treasure, 
and the chief source of his supplies, that America first excited 
real interest among the English people." 

We must place the political alongside the commercial motive, 
therefore, in reviewing the conditions out of which grew the 
movement which sent Captain Geoi'ge Popham to the Sagadahoc 
River with the first English colony that trod the shores of New 
England, following close upon the heels of the Jamestown Col- 
ony, despatched by the same company to settle in the south part 
of Virginia. 

It will be observed, however, that I use the word " political" 
in its native and honorable sense ; not, as it is so often used, to 
denote the tricks and subterfuges of party rivalry and manipula- 
tion, but as meaning a patriotic concern for the interests and 
honor of one's country, and a studied purpose to devise and for- 
ward such measures as will most surely defeat the machinations 
of its enemies, and, at the same time, promote its material pros- 
perity, the pride and happiness of its citizens, and its complete 
national integrity. Such, we may confidently assert, were the polit- 
ical considerations that combined with the commercial instinct of 
the English people to form the far-reaching project of American 
possession, which found its first clear expression in the colonies of 
Sagadahoc and Jamestown. The trade of England must be cher- 
ished and extended, — and cherished, indeed, by extension, — and 
there was no field so inviting to commercial enterprise as the safe 
harbors and the fertile soil of North America ; the institutions, 
and the very existence of England, must be defended against the 
bitter and unscrupulous hostility of Spain, and what means were 
so likely to cripple the resources and the power of that haughty 
nation as to gain possession of the American coast ? 

20 



A third motive to colonization was the economic, arising out 
of the industrial and social conditions existing in England during 
the sixteenth century and the early years of the seventeenth. 
To many thoughtful Englishmen those conditions were disturb- 
ing and ominous. The demand for labor was small, compared 
with the number of those who were dependent upon their labor 
for a meagre liveliliood. Those who secured employment had 
to face the disheartening fact that wages did not rise with the 
rising cost of food. There was a wide-spread feeling that popu- 
lation had grown beyond the ability of the country to support it. 
The courts were burdened, and society was dismayed, by the 
increasing numbers of idlers, paupers, vagabonds, and thieves ; 
and it was felt that some outlet must be found for the unem- 
ployed, who had become, and were every day becoming, beggars 
or criminals. 

This state of things followed, in part at least, from an indus- 
trial change that began, as such changes usually begin, in an 
unobtrusive way, far back in the fourteenth century, and became 
more general, and more disastrous in its effects, as time went by. 
The change was mainly connected with the wool trade of Eng- 
land. From a purely agricultural country England had begun, 
in a tentative way, the business of wool-growing, sending the 
wool to Flanders where it was woven into cloth and brought 
back to the English market ; for the English people at that time, 
as Thomas Fuller remarks in his characteristic manner, knew no 
more what to do with the wool than did the sheep upon whose 
backs it grew. Later, in the reign of Edward III, Flemish 
weavers were brought over to England, and the manufacture of 
cloth was begun, and grew rapidly into a most important indus- 
try. The wool trade, in its several branches of production, 
exportation, and manufacture, proved so profitable a business 
that large tracts of land, which had been devoted to tillage, were 
turned into grazing pastures for sheep. A shepherd with his 
dog, remarks Montgomery, took the place of several families of 
farm laborers, and multitudes of poor people were reduced to 
beggary, and to the verge of starvation. As a result of this the 
land swarmed with beggars and thieves, and Bishop Latimer 
declared that if every farmer should raise two acres of hemp it 
would not make rope enough to hang them all. 

21 



Sir Thomas More, the friend and the victim of Henry VIII, 
was an eye-witness of these evils, and a vivid expounder of them 
in his fascinating book, the " Utopia." " This is a necessary 
cause of stealing," he says, " which is proper and peculiar to you 
Englishmen alone. Your shepe that were wont to be so meke 
and tame, and so smal eaters, now are become so great devourers 
and 80 wylde, that they eate up and swallow downe the very 
men themselfes. They consume, destroy, and devoure whole 
field es, howses and cities. For looke in what partes of the 
realme doth growe the fynest and therefore dearest woll, there 
noblemen and gentlemen, yea, and certeyn abbottes, holy men no 
doubt, not contenting themselfes with the yearly revenues and 
profytes, that were wont to grow to theyr forefathers and prede- 
cessours of their landes, . . . leave no grounde for tillage ; 
thei inclose al into pastures; thei throw doune houses; they 
plucke down townes, and leave nothing standynge, but only the 
church to be made a shepehowse. . . . One covetous and 
unsatiable cormoraunte and very plague of his natyve contrey 
maye compasse about and inclose many thousand akers of grounde 
together, within one pale or hedge, the husbandmen be thruste 
owte of their owne, ... or be compelled to sell all ; by one 
meanes, therefore, or by other, either by hooke or crooke they 
must needs departe awaye, poore, selye, wretched souls, men, 
women, husbands, wives, fatherlesse children, widowes, wofull 
mothers with their yonge babes, and their whole houshold smal 
in substance and muche in numbre, as husbandry e requireth many 
handes. Al their housholdstuffe, they be constrained to sell it 
for a thing of nought. And when they have wandered abrode 
tyll that be spent, what can they then els doo but steale, and 
then justly pardy be hanged, or els go aboute a begging. And 
yet then also they be caste in prison as vagaboundes, because 
they go aboute and worke not : whom no man wyl set a worke, 
though they never so willyngly profre themselves thereto." 

This is a dismal, but no doubt a truthful picture of the condi- 
tions existing when the " Utopia " was written, and which con- 
tinued to exist, and were even aggravated, in the following years. 
What wonder that many people believed that the population of 
the country was outrunning its means of subsistence, and were 
eager to find a way to correct the disproportion. If the surplus 

22 



of population could be settled in America it would find occupa- 
tion in tilling the soil of that new land ; the products of its labor 
would natiu-ally be exchanged for commodities from England, 
and this, of course, would increase the demand for English labor, 
and fewer people in England would be left without employment. 
" For men disheartened by poverty, and demoralized by idleness, 
struggling for life in a community that had ceased to need the 
kind of labor they could perform, the best chance of salvation 
seemed to lie in emigration to a new colony where the demand 
for labor was sure to be great, and life might be in a measure 
begun anew." This was a not uncommon view, and it found 
expression even in the preaching of the clergy, who did not hes- 
itate to affirm that " Virginia was a door which God had opened 
for England." It is true that some people did not accept this 
view of the over-population of England, and notably Sir Francis 
Bacon, who, the very year in which the Virginia Company was 
chartered, said in Parliament, " that howsoever there may be an 
over-swelling throng and press of people here about London, 
which is most in our eye, yet the body of the kingdom is but t hin 
sown with people." Nevertheless the opposite view generally 
prevailed, and was freely and vigorously expressed. It is not to 
be doubted, therefore, that what I have called the economic 
motive had much to do with the sending of the first colonies to 
America. It goes far, also, to account for the character of the 
men who largely composed those colonies. They were men in 
distressed circumstances who were glad to embrace the chance of 
bettering their condition in a new land. They were men who 
had become idlers, and vagabonds, and thieves through the force 
of the pitiless industrial conditions under which they had suffered. 
If some were released from prisons to go aboard the American- 
bound ships, it was because the prisons had claimed them for 
offences which were committed under the stress of cruel circvim- 
stances, and which the authorities were reasonable enough and 
merciful enough to condone. About the time that King James 
issued his memorable charter to the Virginia Company, the Span- 
ish ambassador in England, Zuniga, wrote to his master, the King 
of Spain, that he had protested to Chief Justice Popham, who 
was largely instrumental in the project, against the sending of 
colonies to Virginia as an infringement of the treaty with Spain ; 

23 



and he reported that the Chief Justice told him that he did this 
"in order to drive out from here thieves and traitors to be 
drowned in the sea." But Chief Justice Popham was clever 
enough, in those days of diplomatic hedging, to meet the Spanish 
ambassador upon his own ground of insincerity, and to reply to 
his protest in terms of Spanish duplicity. His answer has no 
other significance than that. Whatever may have been the char- 
acter of many of the colonists they were led and governed, even 
as the colonies were organized, by men of high character and of 
generous purposes ; and if, in their difficult and costly project, 
they were influenced by human as well as politic motives, who 
can reasonably make that a ground of adverse criticism ? 

Amid the commercial, the political, and the economic consid- 
erations of which I have spoken, and all of which contributed, in 
a greater or less degree, to the planting of western colonies here 
at Sagadahoc and elsewhere, what room was there for a religious 
motive *? There was the room which religious faith always makes 
for itself, as the underlying principle out of which grow the out- 
ward and obvious activities of a Christian society or common- 
wealth. The eager merchant, the strenuous politician, the 
thoughtful economist, often devote themselves to their several 
lines of effort under the impulses and the restraints of a deep 
religious conviction, which is none the less real and commanding 
because it is relatively withdrawn from observation, and consti- 
tutes the background of their various activities. Now, England 
was, indisputably, a Christian nation. In all the controversies 
and conflicts through which they had passed, and were still to 
pass, the English people clung honestly and stoutly, not only to 
the forms, but to the essence of the Christian faith. Whatever 
exceptions there might be, on the throne or among the subjects 
of the throne, the people of all ranks were religious in their con- 
victions and their ideals. It was sometimes a narrow, sometimes 
a confused, and sometimes a passionate religion which they 
exemplified, but it was religion. Their utterances and their pol- 
icies alike, their literature and their legislation, gave evidence to 
their ingrained regard for Christian teaching, and to the spirit 
which made them, in fact if not always in name, a nation of 
Puritans. We should expect, therefore, that a religious motive 
would mingle with the others, if it did not lie at the foundation 

24 



of them all, when they undertook the enterprise of carrying their 
fellow-countrymen, their customs, and their laws to a laud which 
was peopled only by savages and heathen. It was an oppor- 
tunity, not only to establish trading-posts, and military stations, 
and new fields of industry, — but also to plant the seed of Chris- 
tian truth in the hearts of men who knew nothing of its light and 
power. 

These natural expectations are justified and confirmed by 
observing the urgency with which this aspect of the colonizing 
project is set forth by various men eager for its accomplishment, 
and is one of the early considerations in the charter which King 
James granted to the Virginia Company. For example, Richard 
Hakluyt, in his memorable and eloquent "Discourse Concerning 
Westerne Planting," puts it at the very fore-front of his argu- 
ment. " Seeinge," he says, " that the people of that parte of 
America from 30 degrees in Florida northewarde unto 63 degrees 
are idolaters, — ... it remayneth to be thoroughly weyed 
and considered by what meanes and by whome this most godly 
and Christian worke may be performed of inlarginge the glori- 
ous gospell of Christ, and reducinge of infinite multitudes of these 
simple people that are in errour unto the right and perfecte way 
of their salvation." " It is necessary for the salvation of these 
poore people which have sitten so longe in darknesse and in the 
shadowe of death, that preachers should be sente unto them. But 
by whome should these preachers be sente '? By them no doubte 
which have taken upon them the protection and defence of the 
Christian faithe. Nowe the Kinges and Queenes of England 
have the name of Defendours of the Faithe. By which title I 
thinke they are not onely chardged to mayuteyne and patronize 
the faithe of Christ, but also to inlarge and advaunce the same. 
Neither ought this to be their laste worke, but rather the princi- 
pall and chefe of all others." 

So far Hakluyt ; and there is no mistaking the earnestness of 
his appeal. And King James, in his charter to the Virginia 
Company, after reciting the fact that divers of his loving and 
well-disposed subjects were humble suitors for a license "to 
make habitation, plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of 
our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia, 
and other parts and territories in America," begins his royal grant 

25 



in these words: "We greatly commending, and graciously 
accepting of, their desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, 
which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend 
to the glory of his divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian 
religion to such people, as yet live in darkness and miserable 
ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may 
in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to 
human civility, and to a settled and quiet government ; Do by 
these our letters patents graciously accept of, and agree to, their 
humble and well-intended desires." The subjects who sue for a 
charter, and the king who grants it, alike recognize the opportu- 
nity and the obligation to make the proposed colonies the means 
of carrying the Christian faith to the new continent, and to its 
idolatrous inhabitants. 

The four motives, then, which I have briefly considered, — the 
commercial, the political, the economic, and the religious, — each 
appealing with special force to particular individuals, were all 
I'epresented in the suit to King James, and were also, perhaps, 
represented in his gracious response ; whereby he granted to Sir 
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, Edward-Maria 
Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert, William Parker, 
and George Popham, with divers others, licence and authority to 
establish colonies in the parts of America lying between thirty- 
four degrees and forty -five degrees north latitude, and upon the 
islands adjacent within one hundred miles of the coast. Two 
separate colonies, or companies, were to be formed ; the one con- 
sisting of knights, gentlemen, merchants, and other adventurers, 
of London ; the other consisting of knights, gentlemen, merchants, 
and other adventurers, of Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth. The 
London Company was to plant a colony in the south part of Vir- 
ginia ; which it did, and thereby gave occasion for the Jamestown 
Exposition of the present year. The Plymouth Company was 
to plant a colony in the north part of Virginia, — what is now 
called New England ; that it did, and it is that which we com- 
memorate to-day. The principal and most influential promoter 
of the Plymouth Company and its colony, was the Lord Chief 
Justice of England, Sir John Popham. Its president, who con- 
ducted the colony hither, and directed its affairs until he laid 
down his office and his life together, was Captain George Pop- 

26 



ham, a nephew of the Chief Justice. The second in command 
was Captain Raleigh Gilbert, whose name suggests the brilliant 
strain of his ancestry, and recalls the patriotic and valiant exploits 
of Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Humphrey Gilbert. In two ships, 
the Gift of God and the Mary and John, the colony set sail from 
England on the thirty-first of May, a few days after the London 
Company's colony had landed at Jamestown. The story of the 
voyage, and of the Popham Colonj^, has been so recently and so 
fully told, on this very shore, by the honored president of the 
Historical Society, that there is small occasion for me to dwell 
upon it. The two ships, after a three months' voyage of search 
and adventure, finally cast anchor in this hospitable river; and 
on this day, three hundred years ago, the weary voyagers came 
on shore to listen to a sermon by their chaplain. Rev. Richard 
Seymour, and to have read to them their patent and the laws 
therein prescribed, before laying hand to the tasks that awaited 
them. By the fact that the river which welcomed them to a 
secure harborage gave its own Indian name to the colony, and 
by the characteristic forecast and energy with which they pro- 
ceeded at once to build a ship for business or for need, as well as 
to erect houses and a fort for shelter and defense, the Sagadahoc 
Colony may be said to have been wholly American in its charac- 
ter from the outset. But they had to contend with conditions of 
peculiar and unforeseen discouragement. They had reached 
their destination in this northern latitude at a season when crops 
could not be sown, but should have been ready to gather. Their 
supplies, after their long voyage, were inadequate to their needs. 
When the two ships went back to England, one in October and 
the other in December, to carry news of the venture and to get 
additional supplies, a part of the colonists went back in them. 
The winter proved, as Strachey says, " extreame unseasonable 
and frosty ; for yt being in the year 1G07, when the extraordinary 
frost was felt in most parts of Europe, yt was here likewise as 
vehement." In the gloom and severity of midwinter the presi- 
dent. Captain George Popham, died, and was buried here where 
he had passed the few months of an anxious and troubled official 
life. "He was an honest man," says Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
" but old, and of unwieldy body, and timorously fearful to offend 
or contest with those that will or do oppose him, but otherwise 

27 



a discreet, careful man ; " and elsewhere he says that he was will- 
ing to die " in acting soraetliing that might be serviceable to God 
and honorable to his country." 

After the death of Popham the direction of affairs devolved 
upon Raleigh Gilbert, who was not well fitted by temperament 
to govern wisely the suffering and discordant colony. A ship 
that arrived from England in May, brought news of the death of 
Chief Justice Popham, the great promoter and supporter of the 
colony ; and by another ship, in September, came the news of the 
death of Raleigh Gilbert's brother, necessitating his return to 
England to care for the estate. No one remained capable of 
bearing the burden of government ; and it is not surprising that 
the little colony, reduced in numbers, and disheartened by 
repeated misfortunes, lost its courage. In the words of Stra- 
chey, through " feare that all other wynters would prove like the 
first, the company by no means would stay any longer in the 
country, especyally Captain Gilbert being to leave them, and Mr. 
Popham, as aforesaid, dead ; wherefore they all ymbarqued in 
this new arrived shipp, and in the new pynnace, the Virginia, 
and sett saile for England. And this," he concludes, " was the 
end of this north erne colony upon the river Sachadehoc." 

It icas the end of the organized colony ; but that colony was 
the beginning of English occupancy of New England, the begin- 
ning of English ship-building on the American coast, the beginning 
of self-government in a colony still dependent upon the mother 
coxmtry and its laws; and it must have the respect which, as 
Emerson says, always belongs to first things. It is not an idle 
sentiment which leads us to celebrate, by these formal exercises, 
and by a permanent monument of commemoration, the tercenten- 
ary of the Sagadahoc Colony. It is the recognition of an inter- 
esting and significant event in colonial history, and a tribute to 
the memory of men whose enterprise and bravery are not dis- 
credited because, like Moses, they were only permitted to look 
as it were, into the promised land. 

The exercises in the church closed with a poem by 
Mr. Harry Lyman Koopman, Librarian of Brown 
University, and a native of Freeport, Me. As Mr. 

28 



Koopman was in Europe, the poem was read by the 
Rev. Dr. John Carroll Perkins, of Portland. 

THE VIRGINIA OF SAGADAHOC 



Where the land reaches out long arms in welcome or farewell, 

What is yon tiny bark that dips with the ocean swell ? 

The autumn sun is bright on the waves by the west-wind tost, 

But a shade hangs over the bark, not even at noon-tide lost. 

Figures crowd its deck, but the faces, blank and wan, 

Tell of defeat and retreat, of Hope that lured and is gone. 

Nor a backward look they cast on the low, receding shore. 

As if less than the ills endured they deem are the ills before. 

O first of the myriad keels to leap from a New World strand 

Into ocean's lifting arms, is it thus, by the shore-wind fanned. 

Thou speedest over the surge to English hands that await 

From the New World's forests and mines the largess of thy freight ? 

Where are thy furs, thy gems, rich ore and massy block. 

Thy wonders out of the deep, O Virginia of Sagadahoc ? 



II. 

" O Voice from the far To-Be, no stately treasure I bear. 

But the dead, cold form of Hope and a living, fell Despair, 

And the bodies of men whose souls are laid with their Hope alow. 

Who staked their lives on the New World's promise and lost the throw. 

All that men might do, their hearts protest, they have done ; 

In Faith and Truth outworking what Forethought had begun ; 

In righteous laws they laid the groundwork of their state, 

And hallowed it with prayer ; yet so it pleased not Fate. 

Now to the Old World's outworn life they are turning back. 

Where man has run his course, and can only deepen his track. 

As a beast that was born for the wild, but is pent for a master's pride ; 

Where life is an anchored bark, which is tugged in vain by the tide. 

But the promise was only a dream, its fruit but the Dead Sea's mock." 

So between sigh and groan spake Virginia of Sagadahoc. 



III. 

Nay, one report hath an hour, but another the rounded day ; 
Not such the freight thou bringest, not such thy word to say. 
Despair, not Hope, is dead ; — lo ! where aloft she flies, 
Clearer than thou or the sun of thy noon to after eyes. 

29 



Hers the lading thou bearest, hers the wafting breeze, 

And hers the eyes unclouded that dance with the dancing seas. 

For now the lesson is learned, man's greatest and his last, 

That the Future belongs but to those who have turned their backs on 

the Past. 
And over the yielding seas thou speedest to proclaim 
A New World waiting for man in man's and the Future's name : 
A world where man shall be man for only the daring to be, 
Where man sliall be free from all but the duty to be free ; 
Where every day shall smite new streams from the welling rock 
For the thirsty soul of man, O Virginia of Sagadahoc. 

IV. 

The Old World is heavy with ruins, yet heeds not their warning tale, — 

The abbey's roofless arches mouldering in the vale, 

The castle proud on its crag, but crumbling hour by hour, — 

Their tale of the failure alike of selflsh Faith and Power. 

For this is the part of man, not to flee from a world of strife, 

But to stay, and strive with the Evil, and cast it out of his life. 

Nor one should be throned on the height while a thousand toil in the 

fen, 
But all should serve and be served, as all alike are men. 
Yet still men fail of the lesson, so plain to eye and ear ; 
But thine are the tidings of joy that another world is here, 
Whose vast and welcoming spaces and sunny skies invite 
The wandering world at last into ways of gladness and right ; 
And lo ! the portal is freedom, which knows not bar nor lock. 
And thou art its herald to men, O Virginia of Sagadahoc. 



" O Voice from the Future, what sign dost thou grant, that men may 

believe. 
And the world renew its hope, and its wasted years retrieve ? " 
Fair Pinnace, take this for a sign, that or ever a year be o'er 
Again shalt thou breast the ocean, courage to bring and store 
To men of English blood, who, under a fiery sun. 
Shall faint at their mighty task on the threshold of empire won. 
And another sign I give thee for men to cherish in mind : 
When at last, on a shore less fair than this thou leavest behind, 
A fated band shall come, whose eyes shall turn not back. 
Though death in a thousand forms hang over their blood-stained track, 
There, in their sorest need, when their children cry for bread. 
Shall they turn to the land of thy birth, and the hungry shall be fed. 
And the starving time shall cease for Plymouth's Pilgrim flock. 
Be this thy second sign, O Virginia of Sagadahoc. 

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VI. 

But ask uot after a sign when a pledge I bid thee demand ; 

And this is the pledge of my truth — go, bid men behold it — the Laud; 

And, seeing it, none shall doubt that Ileaven has here ordained 

The ground where the final goal of man on earth shall be gained. 

Here is room at last, — these l)ays of shelter vv'ide ; 

These mighty rivers, the spoil of lakes in mountains enskied ; 

These beaches whose rolling thunders echo the storm ; the shades 

Of these vast millennial woods, and the smile of these flowery glades ; 

This kinship of land and sea, calm toil and the venturous gale ; 

And over it all an air, — not England's, to soften and veil 

With tender illusion the fact, but the air of Greece, wherein 

Man shall press to the beauty of Truth, and the final triumph win, 

That the world in his thought rebuilded shall smile overtime and shock. 

Lo ! this is the pledge I give, O Virginia of Sagadahoc. 

VII. 

The tiny pinnace fades on the ocean's eastern bound, 
Bearing its New World message ; and men have hailed the sound 
As the shipwrecked a gleam of shore ; and lo ! three hundred years 
Have passed like a rain in the night, with their thronging hopes and 

fears. 
But over their tumult a voice is borne to our Land to-day : 
" Hast thou redeemed the Promise, or yet does the Vision stay, 
And hearts for the Perfect anhungered, still do they doubt and debate 
If thou be the land of Fulfilment, or elsewhere they must await 
The Beauty thy hillsides promised, the Truth that was breath of thine 

air, 
And the Good, whose being is Love, which Beauty to Truth shall bear ? " 
Not yet, our hearts reply, not yet the consummate hour ; 
But slowly the Promise unfolds, from the bud to the perfect flower ; 
Afar earth catches the fragrance, as red the petals unlock 
Of the flower of thy Hope, which is man's, O Virginia of Sagadahoc. 

At the close of the reading of the poem there was 
an adjournment to the rocky eminence not far away 
on which the memorial of the landing of the Popham 
colonists had been erected. When the company had 
assembled around the memorial, the Rev. Henry S. 
Burrage, D.D., delivered an address. 

We are standing on historic ground. Here is the site of the 
fort erected by the Popham colonists, who landed nearby three 

31 



hundred years ago to-day and entered upon the great task to 
which they had committed their hands. Not long has it been 
known that this was the site of the colonists' fort. When, August 
29, 1862, the Maine Historical Society celebrated with an elabo- 
rate order of services the Popham enterprise, the United States 
government, then in the second year of the Civil War, had com- 
menced the construction of a fortification to which was given, by 
request of the Society, the name Fort Popham, in honor of 
George Popham, the president of the Popham Colony. It was 
supposed at the time that this United States fort occupied the 
site of Fort George erected by the Popham colonists in 1607. 
Hon. William Willis, then President of the Maine Historical 
Society, in proposing the elaborate celebration to which reference 
has just been made, said : " By a singular coincidence, the new 
fort will occupy the same ground on which was erected, two hun- 
dred and fifty-five years ago, the first English fort which was 
built on the Atlantic coast of America, north of Virginia." And 
so the Historical Society asked and obtained pennission of the 
government to place in the wall of the new fort a memorial stone. 
Such a stone was prepared, but before it could be placed in its 
appointed position, so varied and rapid were the improvements 
in all matters pertaining to fortifications and armaments, that it 
was found useless to complete the structure. Work, accordingly, 
was abandoned, and for many years Fort Popham, in its unfin- 
ished form, has been only a grim reminder of an antiquated type 
of coast fortification. 

Meanwhile it has been discovered that Fort Popham does not 
occupy the site of the fort erected by the Popham colonists, and 
within the inclosure of which George Popham was buried. How 
this discovery was made is one of the romances of history, and 
illustrates the rewards that await the intelligent research-worker 
penetrating the hiding places to which such materials were long 
ago taken, and where they have securely rested. Briefly told 
this is the story : 

When Alexander Brown of Virginia was engaged in the prep- 
aration of his monumental work, " The Genesis of the United 
States," he asked the Hon. J. L. M. Curry, who had been 
appointed United States minister to Spain by President Cleve- 
land, to make inquiries in the great libraries of that country for 

32 



manuscripts and other materials of our early American colonial 
history. Mr. Curry remembered the request, and in the course of 
his investigations in the hbrary at Simancas he found a plan of 
Popham's fort at the mouth of the Kennebec. It was entitled 
" The Draught of St. Georges fort Erected by Captayne George 
Popham Esquier one the entry of the famous Riuer of Sagadahock 
in Virginia taken out by John Hunt the viiith day of October in 
the yeare of our Lorde 1607." This date, October 8, 1607, is prob- 
ably the date on which the Mary and John left the mouth of the 
Kennebec on her return voyage to England. The journal of the 
colony, not long ago discovered in the library of Lambeth Palace, 
London, is evidently a fragment, and ends with September 26, 
1607. Strachey, who seems to have derived his narrative of the 
expedition from this journal, continues the record until October 
6, 1607, using, in all probability, the entire original manuscript. 
It is unlikely that the plan of the fort would have been dated two 
days after the Mary and John left the mouth of the Kennebec, 
and I am therefore inclined to think that this date, October 8, 
is the date of the sailing. Concerning John Hunt, whose name 
occurs in the inscription upon the plan, nothing is known. He 
was probably the draughtsman by whom the plan was made. 

But how did the plan find its way into Spain ? Just as many 
another plan and document of that time pertaining to American 
colonization passed almost at once into the hands of the crafty 
Spanish minister in London, and from his hands into those of his 
no less unscrupulous master, Philip III. The Mary and John 
reached England near the close of November or early in Decem- 
ber. By direction of the King, the Spanish minister, Don Pedro 
de Zuniga, was unremitting in his efforts to secure the latest 
information concerning English colonization schemes, and he 
knew well how to make Spanish gold contribute to his success. 
The plan of Fort St. George evidently came into his hands early 
in September, 1608, as he forwarded it to the King with a letter 
written September 10. In this letter is to be found all the infor- 
mation we possess concerning this priceless memorial of the begin- 
nings of English colonization in New England. This draught of 
" St. George's Fort," so long preserved in the library at Simancas, 
may be the original plan. If it is a copy, the original in England 
has disappeared. 

33 



When the plan of the fort appeared in connection with the 
pubhcation of " The Genesis of the United States," it was at once 
seen that it would not fit the site of the present Fort Popham, 
but that it would exactly fit this plot of ground on which we are 
now standing, and which is now conceded to be the site of the 
fort erected by the Popham colonists. 

Accordingly permission from the War Department was asked 
and received to transfer to this spot the memorial stone presented 
by the Maine Historical Society in 1862. Permission was also 
asked from the Oliver brothers, owners of the land on which the 
monument now stands, to locate the memorial on this spur of 
Sabino Head which, as the plan shows, was included in Fort St. 
George ; and such permission was generously given. But it was 
found that the stone prepared for a place in the walls of the old 
fort would not of itself make a fitting memorial in these new sur- 
roundings. Accordingly the Hallowell Granite Co. was asked to 
submit several designs for such a memorial, in which the original 
stone should be a prominent feature. Of three designs submitted 
in response to this request, one was selected. From the unused 
material in the yard of the fort the War Department supplied 
such additional stone as was needed, and the Hallowell Granite 
Co. has executed its accepted design in such a manner as cannot 
fail to give the most complete satisfaction to all who love and 
cherish the simple annals of the beginnings of English colonization 
on New England soil. 

It should be added that the funds for the execution of the work 
were provided by the State of Maine, the Maine Historical Soci- 
ety, the Colonial Dames resident in the State of Maine, and the 
Maine Society of Colonial Wars. 

Mr. Fritz H. Jordan, Governor of the Maine Society 
of Colonial Wars, and representing that Society and 
also the Colonial Dames, followed with an address. 

The members of the Society of Colonial Dames and of the 
Society of Colonial Wars are descendants of those brave men 
and devoted women who laid the foundations of the colonies 
which afterwards became these United States; of those men 

34 



who in the bloody conflicts with the French and Indians took 
lessons in the art of war, which were afterwards so vahiable in 
the struggle with the mother country, and who in early town 
meetings and colonial councils gained experience in government 
which helped them in the building of this nation. 

We have pardonable pride that on the rolls of the Maine 
societies are those who trace their descent to early colonial gov- 
ernors, to the doughty Captain Miles Standish, to Major Samuel 
Appleton, the commander of the Massachusetts troops in the 
Swamp Fight, to ancestors who had a part in the siege and cap- 
ture of Louisburg, in the expedition to Ticonderoga, or who 
fought under Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. 

The purpose of our societies is to keep alive the memories of the 
stirring events of those days and the men who took part in them, to 
rescue from oblivion and publish early manuscripts and journals, and 
to properly mark the places of historic interest within our borders. 

The spot on which we stand is the site of the first organized 
attempt at English colonization in New England, an event espec- 
ially worthy of commemoration ; and our Society deems it an 
honor to join with the State of Maine, the Maine Historical 
Society and the Society of Colonial Dames in marking the spot 
with this enduring stone. 

The memorial was then unveiled by Mrs. William 
Addison Houghton, President of the Maine Colonial 
Dames, and by Mr. Jordan. The unveiling was wit- 
nessed from the deck of the Revenue Cutter Wood- 
bury, which was at anchor north of the site of Fort St. 
George, and immediately following the unveiling the 
cutter, in honor of the day, fired a governor's salute 
in memory of George Popham, the Governor of the 
Popham Colony, who died in Fort St. George and was 
buried within the enclosure of the fort. With this 
salute the celebration of the three hundredth anniver- 
sary of the landing of the Popham colonists was 
brought to a close. 

85 



There was now an opportunity for an inspection of 
the spot that witnessed the hardships and sacrifices 
of Popham and his associates. Later, dinner was 
served at the Riverside, and at two o'clock the visit- 
ors re-embarked and returned to Bath in time for the 
afternoon trains. 

This account of the celebration of the three hun- 
dredth anniversary of the landing of the Popham Col- 
ony should not close without mention of the valuable 
services rendered, in preparation for the celebration, 
by Mr. J. H. Stacey, of Popham Beach. They 
extended over several months, and were uni'emitting. 
No effort on his part was wanting in the endeavor to 
make the celebration a worthy one. 



36 



EXPLORATION SCHEMES WITH REFERENCE 
TO THE COAST OF MAINE IN 1606 



EXPLORATION SCHEMES WITH REFERENCE 
TO THE COAST OF MAINE IN 1606' 

BY HENRY S. BUKRAGE, D.D. 

Mead before the Maine Historical Society^ May 2, 1906 

Waymoutli's voyage to the coast of Maine in the 
summer of 1605 had an important relation to farther 
exploration in that part of North America. This 
voyage was not a business venture of any kind. 
While Waymouth was here, there was no search for 
sassafras root, or any other commodity which the 
country might furnish. Rosier's " Relation " clearly 
indicates the purpose of the expedition. Something 
concerning the country had been learned from the 
narratives of Gosnold and Pring's voyages. But 
those who were interested in the permanent occupa- 
tion of the country, who had dreams of establishing 
a new England on these western shores, wanted to 
know more concerning the fertility of the soil, its 
products, the various harbors and rivers, etc., before 
embarking in any enterprise demanding a large finan- 
cial outlay. The report which Waymouth and his 
companions brought with them on their return to 
England answered these questions. It was a most 
inspiring report. The enthusiasm which the explorers 
while here manifested with reference to the goodli- 
ness and fruitfulness of the land was set forth in 

» Tercentenary of Martin Priug'a second voyage to the coast of Maine, 1G06. 

39 



Hosier's " Relation " in glowing words; and Rosier 
in turn appealed to his fellow voyagers for a confirm- 
ation of the descriptions which his interesting narra- 
tive contained. 

But the impression which the promoters of the 
voyage received from Waymouth and his companions 
was greatly strengthened by what they learned from 
the five Indians, whom Waymouth captured while at 
Pentecost harbor. " They were all of one nation," 
says Gorges, " but of several parts and several fami- 
lies." Three of them were taken in charge by Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, and the remaining two by Sir 
John Popham, the chief justice of England. Con- 
cerning these Indians Gorges says : 

After I had those people some time in my custody, I 
observed in them an inclination to follow the example of the 
better sort, and in all their carriages manifest shows of great 
civility, far from the rudeness of our common people. And the 
longer I conversed with them, the better hope they gave me of 
those parts where they did inhabit, as proper for our uses; 
especially when I found what goodly rivers, stately islands and 
safe harbors those parts abounded with, being the special marks 
I levelled at, as the only want our nation met with in all their 
navigations along that coast. And having kept them full three 
years, ^ I made them able to set me down what great rivers ran 
up into the land, what men of note were seated on them, what 
power they were of, how allied, what enemies they had, and 
the like. 

Sir John Popham doubtless derived similar valuable 
information from the two Indians who were placed in 



^Notall of them were kept this length of time as will appear later in the paper. 
Gorges was writing many years after these Indians came into his possession. 

40 



his care. They were received not only as objects of 
wondering interest, but as sources of information with 
reference to the new world from which they came. 
Hosier's " Relation " could not fail to interest the 
Chief Justice ; but what he learned from the Indians 
gave a keener interest to the printed page. Why 
should not England extend her dominion to these 
available lands beyond the sea? The mind of Sir 
John was soon busy with plans for taking possession 
of the country thus open to English occupation and 
trade relations. He would have this done, however, 
under royal authority. His plans as they ripened 
involved the formation of colonies by chartered com- 
panies under license from the crown. 

But before the petitioners on this plan had received 
the royal charter for which they asked, giving them 
authority to take possession of the country between 
the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees north latitude, 
thus shutting out private enterprise, certain merchants 

of Plymouth, William Parker, Thomas Love, 

Came, and William Morgan, had entered into an 
agreement with Captain George Waymouth *' to carry 
them with their shippinge and provision " to Virginia, 
" there to fishe, traffick and to doe what els shalbe 
fittinge for a Marchante voyage." For some reason 
this agreement was almost immediately annulled, 
probably because of another and more liberal arrange- 
ment ; and Waymouth on the thirtieth of October, 
1605, entered into a formal agreement with Sir John 
Zouche, of Codnor, in Derbyshire, " for and concern- 
inge a voiage intended to be made unto the land 

41 



commonly called by the name of Virginia uppon the 
Continent of America."^ 

On the part of Sir John it was agreed that at his 
own cost he should set forth two ships fitted and fur- 
nished with " all necessaries of victuall, provision, 
munition and two hundred able and sufficient men ; 
that is to sale, of such trades and arts as are fittinge 
for a plantation and colonic, before the last daie of 
Aprill nexte," Sir John also agreed to pay to Cap- 
tain Waymouth within twenty-one days a hundred 
pounds *' lawfull English money .... in considera- 
tion of his travell and paynes to be taken in and 
about the saide voyage and for his owne charge 
defrayinge." Sir John furthermore agreed to allow 
the merchants of Plymouth, whose agreement with 
Captain Waymouth had just been annulled, liberty 
*' to make their trade for what commodities soever 
without anie hindrance or disturbance of his part or 
any of his followers under his Commaund for the space 
of one wholle yeere now next comminge, and not 
after." It was also agreed that Sir John Zouche 
" beinge Cheife Commaunder shall Alio we and give 
unto the saide Captaine George Waymouth the nexte 
place of commaunde under himselfe as well at sea as 
at land." 

The closing item of the agreement on the part of 
Sir John was as follows : 

Item, if it soe please God to prosper and blisse the said intended 
voiage and the Actions of the same that thereby the lande afore- 
said shalbe inhabited with our English Nation, and accordinge to 

1 Brown's " Genesis of the United States," Vol. 1, pp. 32-35. 

42 



Polliticque estate of Government proportion of lande be allotted 
to such as shalbe transported thither to inhabitt. That then after 
the said Sr John Zouche shall have made his choise and assumed 
into his possession in manner of Inheritance such quantitie of 
Land as he the said Sr John shall thinck good. Then he the saide 
Captayne George Waymouth and his Assignes shall and maie 
make his or their next choise of lande for his or their possession 
and plantation. To holde the same in tenure of him the saide Sr 
John as Lorde Paramount. Which said lande soe by the said 
Captaine Waynmouth to be chosen shall discend to his heires or 
Assignes, or shalbe uppon reasonable consideracons to his or their 
uses imployed or disposed. 

On Waymoutli's part the agreement was that with 
his " best indeavoure, councell and advise " he should 
aid Sir John in the fitting out of the expedition ; that 
he should be ready to go with him in the voyage " at 
such tyme as is lymitted or before, unless hindered 
by sickness or other such visitation " ; that on the 
arrival of the expedition he should assist in the plant- 
ing of the colony, work of fortification, and whatever 
else should be thought fitting by Sir John ; and finally 
that he should not aid, " by person or direction to any 
other in or for the said pretended lande or voiage with- 
out the Consent or allowance of the said Sir John." 
One of the witnesses to this agreement was James Ros- 
ier, the historian of the voyage of the preceding year. 

Two days after the signing of this agreement, the 
Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot, which was to have 
been consununated on the assembling of Parliament, 
November 5, was made known to King James. The 
arrests, trials and executions of those connected with 
the plot followed, and for the time attracted public 
attention largely to the exclusion of other matters. 

43 



But that whicli of itself was sufficient to bring to 
naught these negotiations between Sir John Zouche 
and Captain George Waymouth was the royal char- 
ter, which on April 10, 1606, was granted to Sir 
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, 
William Parker ( whose name is first in the list of 
names mentioned in the first of the private agree- 
ments with Waymouth referred to above), George 
Popham and others, incorporating two companies for 
the purpose of English colonization " in that part of 
America commonly called Virginia." This charter, 
drawn up in its first draft by Sir John Popham as is 
supposed, was granted on petition ; but the petition 
has not been preserved, and its date and signers are 
unknown. As some time would be required for the 
work of drawing up the charter, and for its consider- 
ation by the various officers of the crown to whom it 
was submitted, the petition was probably presented 
to the king as early as the last quarter of 1605. The 
petition was for the territory " situate, lying and 
being all along the sea coasts " between the thirty- 
fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, " and 
in the main land between, together with the islands 
thereunto adjacent, or within one hundred miles of 
the coast thereof." The petitioners asked to be 
divided into two colonies and companies, " the one 
consisting of certain knights, gentlemen, merchants 
and other adventurers " of London and vicinity, who 
wished to establish their plantation in some fit place 
between the thirty-fourth and fortieth degrees of 
north latitude, and generally known as the London 

44 



Company ; the other, consisting of sundry knights, 
gentlemen, merchants and other adventurers of Bris- 
tol, Exeter, Plymouth and other places, who wished 
to establish their plantation in some fit place between 
the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees of north lati- 
tude, generally known as the Plymouth Company.^ 
In the charter, the first colony was granted the terri- 
tory between the thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees, 
also fifty miles south of this location, while to the 
second colony was granted the territory between the 
thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees, also fifty miles 
farther north. This overlapping of charter limits in 
royal grants of territory in the new world was not a 
matter of unfrequent occurrence. The wholesome 
provision was added that the last of the colonies to 
establish its plantation should not locate its settlement 
within one hundred miles of the one first established. 
No other of the king's subjects were permitted to 
" plant or inhabit behind, or on the backside of them, 
without the express licence or consent of the council 
of the colony, thereunto in writing first had and 
obtained." 

Sir John Popham's name does not occur in the 
charter, but it is well known that he was one of the 
most active of those engaged in the movement for 
obtaining it. The name of Popham's son-in-law, 
Thomas Hanham, however, is that first mentioned in 
the fifth section, where the reference is to the second 
colony. 

iThe charter will be found in Brown's "Genesis of the United States," Vol. I, 
pp. 52-63. 

45 



Brown, in his " Genesis of tlie United States," 
makes mention of a controversy between Sir John 
Popham and Sir John Zouche. Carleton, writing to 
Winwood, says, " There hath a great cause troubled 
the council often and long, between the Lord Zouch 
and the Lord Chief Justice ; the one standing for his 
privileges of the bench, the other for his Court of 
Presidency, which do sometimes cross one another." 
Mr. Brown thinks that this controversy had its effect 
on American interests, Sir John Popham championing 
public plantations in opposition to Sir John Zouche's 
views and efforts in behalf of private interests. But 
it is not necessary to think of Sir John Popham as 
acting in these matters from other motives than those 
that had regard to the best interests of all concerned. 
Private plantations had not been successful, and Sir 
John Popham and those who agreed with him had 
good reasons for their belief that public plantations 
had the best prospect of success. The Popham idea 
prevailed, and put an end to private enterprises on 
the part of English adventurers who had their eyes 
upon the new world, and were ready to seize and to 
hold as much of its territory as they could secure. 

The first vessel fitted out under the new charter 

had the special care and oversight of Sir Ferdinando 

Gorges. Li his " Brief Narration," Gorges says : 

Those credible informations the natives had given me of the 
condition and state of their country, made me send away a 
ship furnished with men and all necessaries, provisions con- 
venient for the service intended, under the command of Captain 
Henry Challoung, a gentleman of a good family, industrious, and 
of fair condition ; to whom I gave such directions and instructions 

46 



for his better direction as I knew proper for his use and 
my satisfaction, being grounded upon the information I had of 
the natives, sending two of them with him to aver the same ; 
binding both the captain, his master and company strictly to fol- 
low it, or to expect the miscariage of the voyage to be laid unto 
their charge ; commanding them by all means to keep the north- 
erly gage, as high as Cape Britton, till they had discovered the 
main, and then to beat it up to the southward, as the coast 
tended, till they found by the natives they were near the place 
they were assigned unto. Though this were a direction contrary 
to the opinion of our best seamen of these times, yet I knew 
many reasons persuading me thereunto, as well as for that I 
understood the natives themselves to be exact pilots for that 
coast, having been accustomed to frequent the same, both as 
fishermen, and in passing along the shore to seek their enemies, 
that dwelt to the northward of them. But it is not in the wit of 
man to prevent the providence of the Most High.^ 

Continuing his narration, Gorges outlines briefly 
the misfortunes tliat overtook Challons : 

For this captain, being some hundred leagues of the island of 
Canary, fell sick of a fever, and the winds being westerly, his 
company shaped their course for the Indies, and coming to St. 
John de Porto Rico, the captain himself went ashore for the 
recovery of his health, while the company took in watei*, and 
such other provision as they had present use of, expending some 
time there, hunting after such things as best pleased themselves. 
That ended, they set their course to fall with their own height 
they were directed unto ; by which means they met the Spanish 
fleet that came from Havana, by whom they were taken and 
carried into Spain, where their ship and goods were confiscate, 
themselves made prisoners, the voyage overthrown, and both my 
natives lost. This the gain of their breach of order, which, 
afterward observed, brought all our ships to their desired ports. 
The affliction of the captain and his company put the Lord Chief 
Justice Popham to charge, and myself to trouble in procuring 
their liberties, which was not suddenly obtained. 

^ Collections of the Maine Historical Society. Series 1, Vol. 2, p. 18. 

47 



There is a fuller account of Challons' misfortunes 
in a document secured by Hakluyt, and which after- 
ward was printed by Purchas in his " Pilgrimes," 
together with other papers that probably came into 
his possession after Hakluyt's death. It is a narra- 
tive by John Stoneman, one of Waymouth's company 
in the expedition of the year before. In Challons' 
ship, the Richard of Plymouth, he held the position 
of pilot. Challons sailed from Plymouth August 12, 
1606. His vessel was a small one, registering only 
fifty-five tons or thereabouts. In it were twenty-nine 
Englishmen, and two of the five savages captured by 
Waymouth, namely " Maneddo and Assacomoit," or, 
as recorded by Rosier, *' Maneddo and SafEacomoit." 
The purpose of the voyage was further discovery. If 
a favorable occasion offered, as many men were to be 
left in the country as could be spared for this pur- 
pose. The vessel was "victualled for eleven or 
twelve monetbs " and at the charge of Sir John Pop- 
ham, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, " together with divers 
other worshipful Knights, Gentlemen and Merchants 
of the West Countrye." The master of the vessel was 
Nicholas Hine or Himes, of Cockington, Waymouth's 
birthplace. 

Why Waymouth was not placed in command of this 
expedition in the interest of the North company there 
is not even a hint. That he was ready to undertake 
such an expedition is made evident by the agreement 
which he made with Sir John Zouche, as already 
noticed. Waymouth's subsequent career was one of 
continual disappointment to himself and his friends, 

48 



and it is probable that, on account of defects of char- 
acter already observable, it was deemed best by those 
interested in the expedition to intrust its direction to 
another leader. 

In his fuller narrative of Challons' expedition, 
Stoneman makes no mention of any instructions on 
the part of Gorges as to the direction to be taken in 
the voyage to the American coast. But as Waymouth, 
who preceded Challons, and Hanham and Pring who 
followed him, took a different direction from Challons, 
it is fair to infer that such instructions were given. 
The promoters of the expedition had in view the 
place visited by Waymouth, and the course Way- 
mouth followed in reaching it certainly would not be 
overlooked. The old way of making the Canary 
Islands the starting point in a voyage to the American 
coast could hardly have been in the mind of Gorges, 
or any of his associates, in giving instructions with 
reference to the course Challons was to take. Stone- 
man, however, who says the point on the American 
coast aimed at was in latitude 43° 20', makes no men- 
tion of contrary winds until after the Canary Islands 
were reached. 

But leaving those islands, Challons' vessel, as 
Stoneman says, was " driven by contrary winds to 
take a more Southerly course " than was " intended." 
For six weeks the vessel struggled with those ** con- 
trary winds," and then the voyagers found themselves 
at the Island of St. Lucia, one of the Lesser Antilles. 
Here, in the West Indies, in latitude 14° 20', they 
were twenty-nine degrees out of their way. 

49 



It is to be remembered, however, tbat at tbe time 
Gorges attacbed no blame to Challons because of the 
misfortunes connected with the voyage. In a letter 
to Challons, written a little later, Gorges wrote, "I 
rest satisfied for your pte of the proceedinge of the 
voyadge." This statement, and the added words 
" your misfortune," indicate a generous spirit on 
Gorges' part in his evident desire to lay no added 
burdens upon the distressed commander of the ill- 
fated expedition. 

From Stoneman's narrative we learn that leaving 
St. Lucia after a delay of three days for the purpose 
of taking in wood and water, the Richard started 
northward. This was late in October. In his " Brief 
Narration " Gorges says that on account of Challons' 
illness some time was lost at Porto Rico, where " the 
captain went ashore for the recovery of his health, 
while the company took in water, and such other pro- 
vision as they had present use of, expending some 
time there, hunting after such things as best pleased 
themselves." Challons did touch at the island of 
Porto Rico, but Stoneman says it was for the purpose 
of landing a Franciscan friar whom they took on 
board off the island of Dominica. It was a pathetic 
tale which the friar told. He was from Seville in 
Spain. The king every year, he said, sent out from 
every great monastery in the kingdom certain friars 
to seek, in those new, remote parts, to convert the 
savaffes, and also to ascertain what benefits and com- 
modities might there be obtained, together with the 
number of the inhabitants in the various islands. 

50 



The friar and two companions had been engaged for 
some time in this service on the island of Dominica, 
and much information had been secured, "which 
would bee greatly accepted of his King," the friar 
said, " if hee might live to return to declare it : For, 
said hee, I have seene in one River discending from 
the Mountains in the ile of Dominica, the Sand to 
glitter like Gold or fmd Copper, whereupon I tooke 
some of it, chewed it betweene my teeth, and found 
it perfect Mettall, the Savages noting me, began to 
have some jealousie of me, so as I durst not take any 
farther notice of it, neither would they suffer him for- 
ward to come neere to that place." In fact the friar's 
two companions were at length murdered by the sav- 
ages and thrown into the sea, while he was made a 
slave, the savages deeming him useful to themselves : 
and they set him to work rigging their canoes with 
sails which he made from cloth obtained in shipwrecks 
two years before. The friar had been a slave sixteen 
months at the time he made his escape and was 
received on board of the Richard. When the Richard 
was off the southern coast of Porto Rico, the friar, at 
his own request doubtless, was landed and delivered 
to "Two Heardsmen," evidently Spaniards, who 
received him "thankfully," and showed their grati- 
tude to the Englishmen by valuable presents " in 
recompence of the good deed done to the Friar." 
Stoneman makes no mention of other delay at Porto 
Rico than that connected with the landing of the friar. 
Leaving Porto Rico and proceeding northward one 
hundred and eighty leagues, Challons encountered a 

61 



severe storm wliicli continued ten days. At its close, 
tlie Englisliman " in a thick fogge of mist and raine " 
found himself surrounded by Spanish ships, eight in 
number. He was "within shot of them," and three 
of the ships were on the windward side of the Rich- 
ard. Those at the windward bore down at once upon 
Challons' little vessel, firing as they came. The Rich- 
ard, all her sails being down, her "mayne sayle in 
pieces lying on the Decke," prudently surrendered, 
and was at once boarded by the Spaniards. Challons 
and his men " stood redie to entertayne them in 
peace," but the Spaniards would not thus be enter- 
tained, and proceeded to beat and otherwise ill-treat 
the Englishmen, wounding two of them in the head 
with their swords, not sparing the captain in the 
assault, and wounding Assacomoit, one of Waymouth's 
Indians, thrusting their swords into his body, and 
" quite through the arm, the poore creature creeping 
under a Cabbin for feare of their rigour," he all the 
while crying, " King James ! King James ! King 
James' ship ! King James' ship!" The whole com- 
pany on board of the Richard was then removed to 
the Spanish ships, and the Richard was plundered of 
her merchanise and of whatever valuables she had. 
The thirty members of Challons' company were dis- 
tributed among five Spanish ships, eight, seven, six, 
five and four to a ship. Stoneman and six others 
were placed on the Peter of Seville. All the vessels 
then proceeded toward Spain, no two of them keeping 
company. One of the ships, by the incompetence of 
its officers, was driven past the coast of Spain into 

52 



Bordeaux ; and the French Admiralty officers finding 
four Englishmen, " Prisoners under the Deckes in 
hold," kindly set them at liberty. All the other pris- 
oners were finally landed in Spain. 

The Duke of Medina, hearing of the arrival of these 
prisoners, directed the captains of the Spanish ships 
to hring four of the " chief est " of the prisoners before 
him. In answering this order, the captains produced 
"Pilot John Stoneman, Master Thomas Saint John, 
John AYaldrond, the ship's Steward, and William 
Stone, the ship's Carpenter." The ship in which 
Captain Challons was carried had not at that time 
arrived. The Duke of Medina showed favor to the 
captives, and released them, as also Challons and the 
men with him who were brought before the Duke on 
their arrival. When the Duke advised Challons " to 
goe home to the Court of England, or to the Court of 
Spaine where he thought to have best relief e for his 
poore imprisoned Company," Nicholas Hine and two 
of Challons' men " wisely foreseeing what was like to 
bee the Issue, made haste away out of the citie, and 
so got passage and escaped to England," Hine bear- 
ing with him a letter from Challons to Gorges. 

Challons' purpose in remaining in Spain was that 
he might be of assistance to the men under his com- 
mand, and also obtain redress from the Sjoanish gov- 
ernment for the losses the promoters of the expedition 
had sustained by the capture of the Richard and its 
cargo. For awhile, he was in prison with Stoneman 
and the rest of the company still in the hands of the 
Spaniards. Both Challons and Stoneman were exam- 

53 



ined by Spanish officials concerning " the situation of 
the Conntrie of Virginia, together with the commodi- 
ties and benefit thereof." Stoneman says the Span- 
iards were very desirous to get him to serve Spanish 
interests, and offered him great wages, which he 
refused. Then the " Alcadie Maior of the Contraction 
House and divers other Merchants " endeavored to 
persuade him to make them " some descriptions and 
Maps of the Coasts and parts of Virginia," which he 
also refused to do. " The Spaniards," he adds, " had 
a great hate unto me above all others, because they 
understood that I had beene a former Discoverer in 
Virginia, at the bringing into England of those Sav- 
ages ; and that they thought it was by my instigation 
to perswade our State to inhabit those parts." 

As the Spaniards could not get any help from 
Stoneman, who refused to make " any note, draught, 
or description of the Countrie," they resolved to sub- 
ject him to rack torture. Having received informa- 
tion concerning their purpose, Stoneman determined 
to make his escape. This he did October 23, 1607, 
probably with the assistance of friends. Two others 
escaped with him. Master Thomas Saint John and 
James Stoneman, the pilot's brother. They left in 
Seville Captain Challons " at libertie upon sureties," 
and sixteen more " In close prison." 

Challons also, forfeiting his bail, finally made his 
escape from Seville, as we learn from Gorges, and 
arrived in England safely, though in great want. His 
men, including the two Indians, he left " in greats 
extremity." Some of the men were either liberated 

54 



or escaped, and the others sickened and died. So 
ended Challons' ill-fated expedition. 

Another vessel, fitted out by Sir John Popham for 
the purpose of cooperating with the Richard in the 
exploration of the coast of Maine, left England not 
long after Challons' departure. Of this vessel Thomas 
Hanham, Popham's son-in-law, was commander, and 
Martin Pring of Bristol, who had been on the Maine 
coast in 1603, was master.^ Gorges makes no men- 
tion of Hanham in his reference to the expedition, 
and it is evident that his position was a nominal one 
as the personal representative of Sir John Popham. 

According to Gorges, Hanham and Pring sailed 
from England "shortly upon" Challons' departiire. 
Unfortunately we have no record of this voyage. 
That a relation of the voj^age was prepared by Han- 
ham, we know from Purchas, who mentions such a 
relation. Purchas had a copy of it about the year 
1624. Possibly it may have come into his possession 
with the Hakluyt papers, which after Hakluyt's death 
were placed in his hands. Why he did not publish 
the relation in his " Pilgrimes " it is difficult to under- 
stand on account of the significance of the voyage 
from its connection with the Popham Colony of 1607. 
Purchas might well have omitted many another nar- 
rative in order to give place to this. Of course there 
is a possibility that it may yet be found. We only 

1 It pleased the Noble Lord Chiefs Justice, Sir John Popham, Knight, to send out 
another shippe, wherein Captayne Thomas Hanham went commander, and Martine 
Prlnne of Bristow, Master, with all necessary supplyes, for the seconding of Cap- 
tayne Challons and his people." "The Brief Relation" of "The President and 
Councell for New England," published in 1G22. See Brown's " Genesis of the United 
States," Vol. I, p. 64. 

LOfC 

55 



know that the most diligent search hitherto has not 
been successful in bringing it to light. 

Although we have no record of the date of Pring's 
departure for the coast of Maine, there is a letter 
written by Gorges to Challons March 13, 1607, in 
which Gorges says that Pring's vessel followed the 
Richard *' within two months." ^ Probably Pring 
sailed from Bristol, and the voyage was a direct one 
to the American coast. St. George's harbor, the Pen- 
tecost harbor of Waymouth's anchorage in 1605, was 
doubtless the place of rendezvous agreed upon by 
Challons and Pring. This was the appointed rendez- 
vous of the vessels of the Popham colonists in the fol- 
lowing year, and its selection warrants the inference 
of Pring's familiarity with it. Not to find Challons 
there, or in the vicinity, must have been a great dis- 
appointment to Hanham and Pring. They were, 
however, resourceful, and had sujfficiently at heart the 
interests of Sir John Popham to lose no time in pro- 
ceeding to the work that had been laid out for them. 
The coast was carefully examined, and the explora- 
tions made by Waymouth in 1605 were considerably 
extended. Especial attention was evidently given to 
the mouth of the Kennebec and its vicinity. From 
the fact that the Popham colonists, on their arrival on 
the coast in 1607, proceeded at once, after the two 
vessels came together in Pentecost harbor, to the 
mouth of the Kennebec, is an indication that this was 
in accordance with the recommendation of Hanham 
and Pring. The Popham colonists had accurate 

1 Brown's " Genesis of the United States," Vol. I, p. 96. 

56 



directions with, reference to finding and entering the 
river. In their exploration of the coast Hauham and 
Pring had the assistance of Dehamda, one of Way- 
mouth's captured Indians (Hosier's Tahanedo), whom 
they brought with them, and who was found at Pem- 
aquid when the Popham colonists came over in 1607. 
Substantial results were obtained in these explora- 
tions. Concerning these, also of the expedition in 
general, Gorges sa^^s : ^ 

Shortly upon my sending away of Captain Challoung, it 
pleased the Lord Chief Justice, according to his promise, to 
despatxjh Captain Prin from Bristol, with hope to have found 
Captain Challoung where by his instructions he was assigned ; 
who observing the same, happily arrived there, but not hearing 
by any means what became of him, after he had made a perfect 
discovery of all those rivers and harbors he was informed of by 
his instructions, ( the season of the year requiring his return ) 
brings with him the most exact discovery of that coast that ever 
came to my hands since ; and indeed he was the best able to perform 
it of any I met withal to this present ; which, with his relation 
of the country, wrought such an impression in the Lord Chief 
Justice and us all that were his associates, that ( notwithstanding 
our first disaster) we set up our resolutions to follow it with 
effect, and that upon better grounds, for as yet our authority 
was but in motion. 

Gorges' words, " the season of the year requiring 
his return," seem to indicate that Pring was obliged 
to cut short his work of exploration by the approach 
of winter. Certainly there is no hint of wintering on 
the coast. If six weeks are allowed for the voyage, 
and four for exploration, Pring could not have set out 
on the homeward voyage much before the close of the 

' " Brief Narration," Collections of the Maine Historical Societj', Vol. II, Ist 
Series, p. 19. 

57 



year. It was Pring's report, according to Gorges, 
that led to the preparation and organization of the 
Popham Colony. As the colony was ready to sail by 
the last of May, 1607, Pring's report, in all proba- 
bility, must have been received as early as the first of 
March in order to have had the influence which is 
ascribed to it by Gorges. 

Pring, as his subsequent career shows, was a man 
of extraordinary ability. He was fitted by nature and 
by training for large enterprises, and his prominence 
in this voyage, and the report which he made con- 
cerning it, opened the way for those added employ- 
ments in the East Indies where he achieved distinction 
for himself, and at the same time conferred lasting 
benefits upon his native land. On the stately monu- 
ment to Pring in St. Stephen's church, Bristol, we 
read that 

His painful, skillfull travayales reacht as farre 
As from the Artick to th' Antartick starre. 

High aims led him ou, and these he sought bravely 
to accomplish. He has his memorial not only in St. 
Stephen's church, but in the literature of the voyages 
of English sailors and explorers in the beginning of 
the seventeenth century.^ 



•See "Captain Martin Pring, Last of the Elizabethan Seamen," a paper read 
before the Maine Historical Society, at a meeting commemorative of the tercen- 
tenary of Martin Pring's first voyage to America, by Prof. Alfred L. P. Dennis. 
Maine Historical Society's Collections, 3d Series, Vol. II, pp. 1-50. 

58 



